A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to toothbrushes, and, more particularly, to a toothbrush assembly having a child-safe, ventilated, toy-shaped handle with a compartment for removably storing a separate child-safe figurine or other toy.
B. Description of the Related Art
Various types of toothbrushes having object-shaped handles are generally known in the art, and are designed to appeal to children to encourage them to brush their teeth for enhanced oral health. Examples of such toothbrushes that appeal to children include U.S. Design Pat. Nos. 237,659, 443,765, 452,381, and 452,382 disclose toothbrushes having handles shaped like vehicles (e.g., race cars, rocket ships, jets, etc.). U.S. Design Pat. Nos. 329,948, 347,146, 347,147, 347,148, 363,166, 402,119, 434,907, and 452,380, and U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,353,464 and 6,026,532 disclose toothbrushes having handles shaped like animals. Toothbrush handles having other shapes are also possible, as seen in U.S. Design Pat. Nos. 113,744, 155,668, 175,198, and 209,574.
Many children's toys are handheld, and, especially with vehicle type handheld toys, contain a compartment with a lid for retaining figurines, such as toy people, therein. For example, the LEGO® Company of Denmark offers several vehicle type handheld toys that have a compartment with a transparent lid to retain a LEGO® figurine, such as a driver, within the vehicle. Such handheld toys are not known to have been used as toothbrush handles.
The closest the toothbrush art comes to offering toy-based handles with compartments for retaining additional figurines may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,353,464, 5,887,601, and 5,590,436 and U.S. Design Pat. No. 170,680. U.S. Pat. No. 5,353,464 discloses a toothbrush having a handle in the general form of an animal. If desired, the handle can contain a hollowed-out compartment for storage of a detachably/attachable toothbrush head. The compartment can be fitted with a suitable cover, plug, or lid to encase the entire toothbrush head within the handle. However, the compartment of U.S. Pat. No. 5,353,464 is adapted to retain only the detachable toothbrush head, and there is no mention of providing a child-safe figurine within the handle. U.S. Pat. No. 5,353,464 also fails to disclose providing a child-safe, ventilated toy-shaped handle.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,887,601 discloses a toothbrush having a handle with a compartment. The compartment, however, is for storage of retainer rings used in dental retainer devices. U.S. Pat. No. 5,887,601 fails to disclose a toy-shaped handle, providing a figurine in the compartment, as well as a child-safe, ventilated, toy-shaped handle with a compartment for removably storing a separate child-safe figurine.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,590,436 discloses a toothbrush having a handle that carries a figurine formed separately from but attached to the handle. The figurine can be attached directly to the handle of the toothbrush or can be attached first to a carrier which is then attached to the handle. The toothbrush handle of U.S. Pat. No. 5,590,436 does not have a compartment with a cover or lid for retaining the figurine, and is not child-safe or ventilated.
U.S. Design Pat. No. 170,680 shows a figurine attached to a toothbrush handle. However, it cannot be determined whether the figurine is in a compartment formed in the toothbrush handle or is molded into a visible portion of the handle. The toothbrush handle of U.S. Design Pat. No. 170,680 does not have a compartment with a cover or lid for retaining the figurine. Thus, the reference fails to disclose a child-safe, ventilated, toy-shaped handle with a compartment for removably storing a separate child-safe figurine.
Although not part of the toothbrush art, U.S. Pat. No. 5,713,664 discloses a beverage stirrer having a pop out item such as a figurine, logo, or product replica. The pop out item can be mounted to an end of a sliding mechanism and can be configured to extend out of an open end of a casing as the beverage is stirred. Unfortunately, U.S. Pat. No. 5,713,664 fails to suggest that such a pop out item configuration can be used for a toothbrush handle.
Thus, there is a need in the art to appeal to children with a child-safe, ventilated toy-shaped toothbrush handle having a compartment and a cover or lid for removably storing a child-safe figurine or other child's toy therein, wherein the handle can function as a toy with or without a detachable toothbrush head to encourage children to brush their teeth.